Introduction
Somebody screams. My eyes open wide. It is still pitch black. I can’t see a think. The air is thick and the smell is horrible. I have to fight to breathe. Suddenly there are flashlights and the sound of running feet pounding on the concrete. People are running to hide from the thugs.
It was 110 degrees. The flashlights disappear, and everything goes black again. My back is numb. All I have now is a black garbage bag with everything I value.
Dad told me when we went into the Superdome – “Don’t matter what you see or who needs what- they’re not family. Its us three and nobody else.”
People are pounding each other for their stuff. The generators buzz and hum but they don’t work. I hear a baby shriek. I do not know if the baby is being born or dying.
Page 3
Sunday August 28- 7:15 am
Before the storm- Last night Pop told me to collect all the things that I could not live without. A monster hurricane was coming- Hurricane Katrina.
Dad told me to call my mother- just in case we lost power. We were going to a motel with Uncle Roy to his old Chevy.
I had been with Pop for two months. I moved in with him right after school. I had spent summers with Pop before, but this was going to be different. Mom got remarried to a mailman who had three kids.
Mom would get mad when I complained. She told me that I was still her baby boy, but she had four kids to take care of now.
Page 4- Dad was a musician. He loved to play the trumpet. He felt that when he was playing the trumpet, he was close to God.
Mom told me that life at Pops was not going to be all fun and games. She told me that the most important thing in his life was that trumpet. It was more important than Mile’s mother and Miles himself.
Pop used to drink a lot. He used to stay out all night playing at the clubs.
Pop told Miles that he didn’t care about Nintendo, basketball or rap. This made Miles mad. Miles played football not basketball.
Pop moved into a small apartment over one of the clubs. He got Miles a part time job. On the living room walls were pictures of musicians.
Pops told Miles this was not a house to study in. Pops hardly ever noticed Miles. He was so invested in his own self and his own music.
The first week that Miles moved out to live with Pops was great. Pops spent a lot of time with Miles. He had a full time father. But when Pops got more gigs, Pops stopped handing around Miles.
Pops real name is Terrance Shaw, but everyone calls him Doc.
Miles slept on a couch in the corner of the living room. There was a curtain that he could pull in front of the couch for privacy.
Miles hoped to make the varsity football team at his new school. On my birthday I was hoping for some football gear, but got a watch instead. Pops asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him cleats and a new football. Pops gave him a drum instead.
Miles was mad at Pops. Pops had asked and didn’t listen. It was the same old story. One day Pops went into the kitchen and started talking to Miles. He said, You were born in New Orleans and named after Miles Davis- the best trumpet player ever. You have got to have some skill in those hands to beat a drum.”
Miles worried about missing football practice the day he stepped into the old Chevy. Miles really wanted to make the team, even if he had to spend some time on the sidelines.
They were on the highway, and it was bumper to bumper. No one moved an inch.
Uncle Roy could not believe how many people were trying to leave New Orleans.
Pop and Uncle Roy had seen many hurricanes, and were never scratched by one of them. They said that this hurricane was different from all of the others. We lived in an apartment that was 15 feet above the sidewalk. I could not imagine that water could get that high. The landlord boarded up all the windows and left too.
New Orleans was built below sea level. The whole city could get swallowed up in water if the levees broke. Even the mayor told the people of New Orleans to leave.
Pop packed his trumpet. He also took his gig book with him as well. Miles put $64.00 in his pocket- money that he saved from cleaning tables , a football, his practice playbook and his football jersey. Pop told Miles to bring the drum too, so Miles did. Miles did not want to argue with his father.
Uncle Roy was not married. He did not have any kids. He moved into the homes of other people until they got tired of him. He took his trumpet, his suits and a big sack of candy.
We sat in traffic for three hours and moved less than a ½ mile. The storm was a day away, but Miles could smell the rain coming.
Page 14-The needle of the car’s engine was getting higher and higher. Suddenly there was smoke from under the hood. The engine died. We had to push it to the side of the road.
When the radio had been working, it said that the Superdome was the only safe place to be if you stayed in New Orleans. They got out of the car and started walking. They carried a duffle bag with their horns and some clothes. They had to leave some stuff behind. There were people everywhere. Most of the people were walking. With the exception of the kids, most of the adults looked nervous.
When they entered the Superdome, Pops warned Miles to be respectful, but not to turn his back on anyone.
Chapter 2- page 17
Sunday 28- 11:00 am
National guard soldiers in camouflage stood at the door with machine guns pointed straight into the air. A large note said that every adult and child should bring enough food and water to last three days. All laws would be strictly enforced.
They had no food other than the candy.
They were told that no one can leave until they are given permission to leave. Pops tells Miles to stay away from the soldiers.
People were praying, children were playing and babies were crying their heads off. Most of the people there were black. There were a few white people. Most of them were doctors, nurses or soldiers.
When Miles saw the football field, he felt less nervous. It was a beautiful sight. Families were all over the stadium. Some people brought VCR’s , piles of clothes, and one person brought their statue. Pops picked out a spot near an exit side. People were told to stay off the field because if the Superdome were to leak, people might drown.
Miles went down to the field to throw his football around. He promised that he would stop when told to by a soldier. Miles saw that the stands were already half filled. Other kids decided to play football with Miles. He was having fun.
Miles saw two boys from the varsity team. They started talking to Miles. They asked Miles if he and his family had enough food, and he told them that they didn’t bring any.
The guards were handing out spaghetti lunch, but the line was line 8oo people long. Miles two friends told him to follow them, so he did.
Cain, one of the boys asked an old man how he was doing. Cain put his hand on the old man’s shoulder acting like he was family. The boys cut in line, even though there were people in line that got mad. Most people wanted to do something about them cutting, but decided not to put up a fuss.
I took the box back to Pops and Uncle Roy. I was not proud of what I did
A man started screaming. He wanted to leave, but the soldiers wouldn’t let him leave. Pops recognized him. He told Miles to pretend not to know him.
There was a preacher and his family that sat near Miles and his family. The preacher had a wife and three young children. Pops told him not to get involved with other people’s problems.
Pops told Miles that when he was younger they went from one shelter to another. He told them when things get difficult; sometimes people snap or go crazy. This hurricane is going to make people snap out of fear.
Pops told Miles that him and Roy used to stay late after school so that no one knew where they lived. They would hold onto the trumpets that the teacher told them they could borrow like they were treasures.
He told Miles that half the people in the shelter wanted to hurt them because they were not very good playing the horn yet, as they were just learning.
Pops continued. One day a woman started screaming. Their momma went to help the lady. Then a person pulled a knife and stabbed momma by mistake. She didn’t die from the stabbing, but she lost a lot of blood. Momma died when she was 56.
Miles told them it was a sad story.
Pops told him that it wasn’t a sad story. It was the sad truth.
Chapter 3- page 30
Sunday August 28- 4:10
The soldiers were not monitoring the bathroom lines. So anyone with muscle could push their way to the front of the line. We waited for an hour to use the bathroom. Pops stayed with our stuff so that no one would steal it.
Mile had cramps. He really needed to use the bathroom. He felt that the lunch that he got from cutting in line was making him sick.
Some man was in the bathroom, trying to sell pills. Uncle Roy waited by the door while Miles went the bathroom. Somebody already stole all the toilet paper. We bought two pills. They were supposed to help us not poop for a few days. People saw that Miles had money in his hand, so many people were thinking about jumping Miles to steal his money.
Some kid stole Mile’s football, so when he went back to his seat he took the drum out the black garbage bag. Miles spun the drum in his hand. His father got mad. He told Miles that the drum was an instrument, not a toy.
Mom had wanted us to go back to Chicago. We were a long distance from there. I had no way of telling Mom where I really was. Mom had told me that we should bring food and water with us. Only we did not bring food or water with us.
Miles started getting hungry. He started to beat on the drum to get his mind off of food.
Pops liked the beat that Miles was playing. Pop put the drum in his lap and started to drum. All the noise in the Superdome seemed to disappear. Miles liked it.
Around 7:00 the preacher said that he was going to hold a mass. Lots of people moved closer. The preacher said that Hurricane Katrina was not a punishment- it was a test of character and a chance to show that family and brotherhood is important.
At the end of the service, the preacher asked Miles to beat out a song. People began to sing. When it was finished Pop and Uncle Roy were clapping for me. Pops said, “The first time we ever played was in a shelter, and now you are giving people hope right here in the Superdome.”
Miles was different after that song.
Late that night, Miles was sound asleep when his stomach woke him up. Pop saw that Miles was awake, and asked him if he minded watching the stuff while he took a nap. While Miles was watching the stuff, he looked around the Superdome. The preacher’s daughters had a pet guinea pig with them. They must have snuck it in because animals were not allowed.
It was raining very hard, and more and more people were coming into the Superdome. The people were soaking wet.
Cain and Dunham were looking for Miles and they found him. They were the two boys that helped Miles cut in line and get food for his Pops and uncle.
Miles left his father and his uncle and walked up to the two boys. There were two other boys with them. Miles did not recognize them. Dunham told his that they could have used him. They were having trouble with some other dudes, and had to leave, because they were outnumbered.
The kids were looking for stuff to steal. They wanted to know what the people around him had to steal.
One of the guys saw the candy machine near our seats. Cain watched for soldiers while one of the other kids took out this knife and broke into the candy machine. They robbed all of the coins from the machine and then broke into the machine and stole the candy.
They told Miles to have the preacher collect money so that the thugs would leave them alone. Miles told them that he couldn’t do that because his family was down there.
One of the guys told Miles that he was a chicken. He told Miles that he was either for or against them. All of the other guys were wearing red. That was the gang’s color.
Pop and Uncle rushed up to Miles. They wanted to know what the problem was. The preacher ran up the stairs too. Miles took out some of the money out of his pocket and gave it to Cain. He told Cain, that was for the jersey he lost.
Cain took the money and ran. He told Miles that he would never play football with him.
Chapter 4 page 42
Monday August 29, 6:30 AM
Katrina hit real hard. The Superdome was shaking. The rain and wind was louder than all the people in the Superdome. Miles imagined that God was playing his own type of drum on the Superdome, saying “Here’s my hurricane song.”
The lights were dead, and everything was pitch black. People got nervous and started praying.
The old man that was yelling yesterday started to lose his mind. He started saying that they were on a slave ship and that they were all going to die.
Just then, the lights went back on. The old man was still saying that he was going to die on the slave ship, and that he was never going to see the sun again.
The Superdome took a direct hit. A section of the roof ripped off. You could hear the rivets pop and metal tear. The hole was at least 10 feet across. The sky was as black as tar.
The rain started falling inside the Superdome. Some people caught the water in bags and began to drink it.
People were pushing and shoving. A fight broke out over rain water.
Pops and Miles waited in a long line for bottled water. They were told that they would only have two bottles per day per person.
People started yelling at the soldiers. They told him that he had more water in his canteen then they would have all day.
We took the pills and they worked. We didn’t have to use the bathroom as much. The bathroom line was much shorter than last night. The smell in the bathroom was horrible. People were holding their breath. There was no running water. That meant that the toilets no longer flushed. We couldn’t go into the bathroom. It was too gross.
The stink was everywhere. People were peeing in the hallway. We relieved ourselves. A lady took her son’s diaper and let the poop fall to the fall.
Pop’s said that they all were like animals. They were fighting to survive.
When we got back to our seats, a man was sitting there with Uncle Roy.
Fess had joined the group. He was a clarinet player. The man was soaking wet.
Fess told them that he was in his house when Hurricane Katrina hit. The water entered his house. He needed to make a hole in his roof to escape. The Coast Guard had to get him out.
Fess told them that parts of the city were gone. He told them that some of the clubs are still standing.
Fess, Uncle Roy and Pop drank a lot of whiskey that night.
Pops got real emotional. He hugged his gig book. Miles just stood and stared. These were his worse days of his life. His father was hugging his book- and not him. It made Miles sad and miserable.
Chapter 5- page 51
Monday August 29 12:16 pm
A single shot rang out. A voice screamed. The whole Superdome got stone quiet. Pop looked at me, and I looked at him. The space between Miles was small, but to Miles it was like the Grand Canyon.
It didn’t matter that it was noon, the sky behind the big hole in the dome was still pitch black.
Hurricane Katrina kept the wind and rain coming. It was so hot in the Superdome and the smell was getting worse.
Pops, Fess and Uncle Roy talk about the good old days. Pop raised his flask. “Here’s to my son. Everything’s football to him- the rest is all invisible.” Pops was mocking Miles. Miles knew that his father was drunk, but his words hurt Miles.
Uncle Roy told Miles that a lot of people in the Superdome were going to die. Fess told Miles that the Saints flower on their helmet was a symbol. They said it was from the bible when Adam and Eve were kicked out of paradise.
Pops told Miles that they were being kicked out of their paradise by Hurricane Katrina.
Fess took his clarinet to his lips and started to play.
The old crazy man was still talking about being on a slave ship and accusing them all of trying to harm him.
Suddenly a group of soldiers came up to Pops and Miles. They were wearing white masks on their face. The told them that they were looking for weapons.
One of the soldiers told Pops that he smelled like a drunk.
The old man came over to Pops and stole the flask of liquor. His daughter ran after him, but could not catch him.
The soldier looked at the bag of candy. They accused him of stealing the candy from the machine.
The soldiers told Uncle Roy and Pops to open their cases. Fess asked the soldiers if they thought that had machine guns in the cases like Al Capone.
Pops picked up his trumpet and yelled at the soldiers that he wasn’t a drunk. Pops played the trumpet. Miles did not want him to stop.
The lady could not find her father. He was missing. More and more people came into the Superdome. They looked worse than other people that came earlier in the day.
There was one lady that was so large that she couldn’t fit into a chair, so she lay on the floor.
One man was coughing up blood, but there were not enough doctors to help him.
There was a lady in a wheelchair that never opened her eyes again.
President Obama was on vacation. The mayor of New Orleans was mad at how bad things were in the Superdome.
Pop was now sober. He was making funny faces for the preacher’s daughters. The girls were laughing. The funny face was one of the memories I had as a kid, which used to make me laugh.
The old man jumped from above. It was a sickening sound. The old man’s body lay still on the concrete.
Chapter6- page 62
Monday August 29- 5:45
No one ran to help the old man. We all knew that he was dead. There was no way that he could have survived the fall.
The body needed to be identified, so the preacher and Pop went to look at the body. Pop was breaking his own rule.
I followed them to the old man’s body. Pop told me that it was ok not to look at the body. There was no shame.
Someone had put a white sheet over the body. We walked into a freezer. It wasn’t cold, but it was about 40 degrees colder. The smell wasn’t that bad here.
There were about 50 boxes of food here, and hundreds of empty ones. They put the old man’s body down.
One of the soldiers called us evacuees, and told them to bring us back to our seats.
The preacher asked if there was any more food than the fifty boxes, no one answered him.
Only one of the soldiers is polite. They thank Pops and the preacher. The soldier says he’s from Texas and that his family lives in Louisiana and Mississippi. He says that they hope that they are treated respectfully.
Uncle Roy says that it will be a long time before they can bury the old man. There is no dry soil. Pops says that maybe they need to march for him, and give him a proper burial.
Miles had only seen one jazz burial before, he was about to see his second.
The old man’s daughter tells them that she wants a jazz march for her father. He used to love his job washing dishes because of the music he got to hear while he worked.
She took out a piece of used cardboard and wrote CYRUS CAMPBELL December 24, 1934-August 29, 2005.
Pop reached into the duffel bag and grabbed his trumpet. Pops told Miles to get his drum.
Pops told Miles to give him a beat, and Miles did.
People in the stands were watching. They were crying real tears. Some people even marched behind us. More and more people got up out of their seats and marched. It was a time to celebrate. Pops played the trumpet real well. The people behind Miles started to dance. A woman opened her umbrella and pretended that the wind was blowing her around.
Pops looked at Miles as though he had never been more proud. Miles felt closer to him. Miles had always hated music because it was the most important thing to his father. Miles felt tricked. He and his father were one when they were playing music. Miles did not want to stop.
Chapter 7- Monday August 29- 9:48 pm
The later it got, the more people were packed into the Superdome. The lights kept fading lower and lower. The storm sounded a little less threatening. I hadn’t eaten any real food since Sunday morning.
It was close to ten o’clock when a fire broke out two sections over. I smelled smoke before I saw the flames.
“Fire! Miles, everybody up!” Pop’s yelled.
Pop’s grabbed his horn inn one hand, and Miles in the other hand.
People started to push each other. They were afraid of dying from the fire. Miles was pushed into a wall. Pop’s had a very tight grasp on Miles. They were finally able to push their way through the doorway.
Two men beat the flames down with their shirts.
When the fire was out, Pops let go of Mile’s arm.
One woman yelled, “Rat!” and tried to stomp on the guinea pig. The guinea pig ran for its life.
People started whispering that the thugs started the fire, so that they could steal stuff.
Finally the fire alarm went off, except there was no longer a fire just the sickening smell of toilet and smoke.
It was midnight on Tuesday that the lights completely died. People used their cell phones and lighters for light. Pops was hoping that the soldiers would let everyone leave on Tuesday. He was concerned about the levees though.
The water was already taller than a man. Uncle Roy laughed to think about his car and his clothes in the trunk.
Miles told Pops and Uncle Roy that he was going to high-school championship football someday on this very field.
Pops looked at Miles. “I know you will, son. There’s no doubt.”
Hearing his father say nice things touched Mile’s heart.
Screams echoed through the stands. A flashlight beam came swinging down the corridor. It was Cain.
They grabbed a skinny guy by his shirt. The man told them to take whatever they wanted. They were going to burn the shirt that the man was wearing.
Pops and Uncle Roy were going to break their rules again. Apparently all those people around us were now family.
Cain was getting closer to Miles’ family. They charged at the preacher. Pop, Roy and Miles jumped up to stop Cain and his gang. Cain turns the light on Miles and tells him to get a collection of money together for them otherwise there would be trouble.
They threatened to break the trumpets and clarinets if they didn’t.
The preacher was lying on the ground and was covered with blood. He told everyone that he was going to be ok.
Before Cain and his crew left, Dunham lit some paper on fire and threw it on top of someone’s stuff.
“don’t forget we are here” they yelled as they walked away.
Pop, Roy and Fess stomped the fire out. People wanted to pay them to leave them alone. People were trying to give Miles their money for protection. Fess picked up his clarinet and blew. He blew it hard.
“No one threatens our instruments,” Roy yelled. “Not in my lifetime.”
Miles clinched his fists and started beating the drum. Chapter 8-page 81
Tuesday August 30-2:30 am
The screams keep coming. There are more crimes in the less populated areas. The thugs are robbing everyone. The gangs are hurting woman and children. The men are scared.
The heat makes breathing hard. There is enough light that you can see twenty feet in front of you.
The people near Pops collected 92 dollars. They did not want any trouble with this gang.
Pop called Miles a man, and told him that he knew these thugs and that he could make his own decisions.
The soldiers started patrolling in larger groups. People pleaded with them to stop the thugs. The daughter of the dead man told them that they needed their protection.
The soldiers left without saying anything.
Later two cops walked by. One of them started crying like a baby. The preacher decided that it was time to give into the thugs.
Miles walked over to a girl that he knew was on the cheerleading team. Both the girl and her mother started screaming when Miles spoke to them. That thought that Miles was going to attack them.
It was around four in the morning when Miles saw two birds near the hole in the Superdome.
There was yelling from down the hall and footsteps flying our way. Fess stopped playing the clarinet. A different gang of thugs appeared, but they weren’t interested in Pops. They were running from something.
A few minutes later Cain and his gang appeared. They were one person short. Dunham was missing and Cain had blood and cuts on his hands.
The preacher gave Cain the bag of money. Cain spit in the preacher’s face. The preacher looked mad. Miles walked past Pops and Fess.
Pops yelled at Miles to come back. Miles walked over to him with a roll of money. Miles handed the money to him.
When Cain reached for the money Miles head-butted Cain, who crashed to the floor.
When Cain got off the floor he screamed at his crew to back up.
Miles wrestled Cain to the ground and Cain’s shirt was ripped off. Everyone was thirsty for blood.
Cain’s crew split. People pulled us apart. A woman screamed that one of us had hurt her. Cain pointed at Miles but the lady recognized his voice and pointed at him.
The group of people grabbed Cain by the legs and arms and carried him off. They beat him bloody, kicking him hard, and barely able to live.
Tuesday August 20 6:52 pm
Hurricane Katrina finally ran out of steam. The storm was over.Light poured into the Superdome.
The soldiers were letting people out of the Superdome. Pops grabbed our stuff. Soldiers were yelling at us to get into line. The Superdome was shaking with footsteps. The exits were blocked. The soldiers told us that we couldn’t leave the area, but we were going outside. Dark filthy water was everywhere. It was over the roofs of cars and just below the bottom branches of trees.
People were waving for help.Uncle Roy said, “It’s a damn nightmare come true.”
The sun was blazing and there was no shade. By eleven o’clock people were passing out. The bottom of Mile’s sneakers was burning from the heat.
The soldier explained to people that the water was poisoned with sewer water. People could not drink it or they would die.
Two women started fighting over baby formula.
A soldier took his canteen and took a long drink from it. A woman snatched it away from him, and told him that they weren’t in a prison camp.
When the woman was done drinking, she passed the canteen to other people until the water was all gone.
Pop opened his gig book to pass the time. Fess and Uncle Roy talked about the good old days with Pop to pass the time.
Pop wrote into his gig book that we played the Superdome- a funeral march. Pops said, that might be the last gig we write in the book for a long time, but it’s the first that we have Miles sign it.
Miles wrote- Miles Chic Shaw-drum into the book.
Miles was beginning to feel and believe that his father loved him.
Chapter 10-page 101
Tuesday August 30, 2:30 pm
The hot it got, the harder it was for people to hold onto their tempers. A white man was beaten by the crowd, and the police had to stop them. The fight started because he was asking people for a cigarette.
Pops told Miles that this was like a like a super-sized shelter. A lot of helicopters arrived. Some were bringing more people, others were bringing supplies.
Camera crews were there to film the horrors of the Superdome. When the camera focused on Miles he turned into the camera so that his mother would know that he was ok. One man jumped in front of the camera and told everyone watching that we needed help desperately. Soon everyone was chanting that we needed help.
People pooped and peed everywhere. There were no toilets. There was the smell of death also. People were dead all around the city of New Orleans. Around four, it looked like there might be food.
They gave people food and water, but only a small amount.
Pops stood behind Miles in line. He said, “I know I have not been the best father, but I want you to know that I love you. Sometimes a man chooses a road and can’t turn around. I want you to know that if we get separated that I am not cutting out on you.”
Pops was going to jump over the wall. Pops said that he had to see what happened to the clubs.
Miles told him that this was nothing new, that Pops had been ditching him for years for music.
Pop waved Uncle Roy over to take his place in line. Pop walked over to Fess, and got his horn out of the duffel bag.
Miles walked out of line too. He walked over to the sergeant to distract him.
Pop jumped over the barrier, and was a free man.
Soldiers started blowing their whistles and were screaming at Pops to stop.
Hancock reached for his gun, but the nice soldier bumped into him making him fall to the ground.
That’s when Miles hopped the fence. Miles caught up to Pops, but couldn’t call out his name.
Finally, Miles yelled, “Wait, Pop!”
Tuesday Auguest 30 4:36 pm
Pop walked side by side with Miles.
Pops could not believe what he was seeing. There is no way that they water of over my waist.
Garbage, logs, branches and human waste floated by. The water was cold. A photo album floated by.
A dead body floated by. As they walked the water was less deep. Helicopters buzzed overhead. People were hanging out of their windows.
Pop did not want to go back to the Superdome, so we hid. Two men on an air mattress floated by. They were trying to get to the Superdome for medical attention.
A few blocks later a man in a boat waved to Pops and Miles and tried to get them into the boat. They told him that they were all set.
They passed a man who was cooking. He had a machete on his waist. He told Pops and Miles that they had better have more than a horn if they are going to get further down the road.
Houses were torn apart from the wind and from the water. Cars were upside down. People were robbing stores and taking all that they could. People were knocking each other senseless trying to grab stuff from the stores. The police just watched. There were not enough police to make a difference.
A group of four guys approached Miles and Pops. They told us to relax. They gave us food. They told Pops and Miles that they were making sure that no one went hungry. They were acting like Robin Hood.
This gang even had baby formula and juice boxes for kids.
We were heading home. The gang told us to hurry.
Chapter 12- page 119
Tuesday August 30, 6:18 pm
We kept moving. Some owners spray painted “LOOTERS WIL BE SHOT ON SIGHT.”
Everywhere people were looting, but they left those stores alone. One of the clubs that Pops played in was still standing. Pops was happier, but knew that it wasn’t all going to be good news.
Looters were everywhere. Shots started raining down. It was a guy on a roof top. They were getting shot at.
When the man ran out of bullets, Pops and Miles got back on their feet. As they got closer to home, several of the clubs had collapsed. A clock in back of one of them had frozen at a few minutes after seven. One club was missing. Pops stated crying.
One of the clubs that wasn’t damaged was being looted. A man had a small piano on his back! Pop yelled at him to put the piano back. Pops was not going to back down. The man put down the piano and walked over to Pops. Miles punched him under his chin and knocked the man to the ground. Then Miles chased him half way down the street.
Then a guy grabbed Miles by the neck. Then Pops was on him, trying his best to get Miles loose. Miles was losing and losing bad. That when he heard the thud.
The guys grip loosened. He was holding his head. Pops said, “Don’t you ever put your hands on my son!”
Pops looked at his trumpet. He had used it to hit the guy in the head with it, in order to save his son.
Pops said, “I couldn’t lose you Miles. Not for anything.”
Miles now knew that Pops loved him more than his music.
Pops and Miles moved the piano back. Together we worked hard. There was no space between them any longer. Pop’s leg was hurt.
Miles reached down and picked up his Pops. He was never more proud of his father.
Our apartment was in ruins. We pushed our way through the building. He used his lighter to see. Our furniture was ruined.
We went into a part of the room that was still standing. Pops took his trumpet and started playing. Miles picked up the broken table top and started to drum on it.
Together we raised the roof, and Miles didn’t stop drumming until his hands were raw.
The spirit of New Orleans was alive.
EPILOGUE- page 130
Miles and Pops slept on the floor in their broken apartment. Soldiers brought Miles and Pops back to the Superdome. This time there was plenty of food and water for people. The bathrooms were clean. Families with babies and little kids had a special section. Everyone had their own cot to sleep on. Best of all there weren’t any more gang members preying on people.
Mom wanted me to fly out to Chicago. Miles tells her that he can’t walk out on Pops. Miles was to start high school in Houston. Pop, Uncle Roy and Fess got an offer to live in Seattle, Washington to play the jazz clubs up there. The four of them moved to Seattle. Pops got himself a new trumpet.
Miles moved too late into the football season, so he didn’t get a chance to play football. Over the weeks he made some friends.
Everything wasn’t perfect between Miles and Pops. Pops was mad that Miles got a B- in music class. Fess had saved Miles drum, and whenever Miles played it, Pops would become happy.
Fess and Uncle Roy tagged Miles with the nickname River for what happened to the man and the piano.
It took seven months for the schools in New Orleans to reopen. Pops and Miles moved but home, but Uncle Roy met a woman in Washington.
The club under their apartment was getting fixed, but there wasn’t going to be an apartment. Pops and Miles moved into a government trailer. Anyone in the trailers was starting out from scratch. People were trying to buy land cheap, so they could rebuild and make a lot of money. Cain and Dunham never returned to school.
Finally in September, the Superdome reopened. The Saints took on the Atlanta Falcons in a Monday night football game. Miles coach got them free tickets. Pops and Fess got a job playing their trumpets.
It cost over $185 million to fix the Superdome. The Saints won 23-3.
Being back in the Superdome was hard. Miles remembered the smell of the toilets, the hunger in his stomach, the fear of the people, the death march. It is part of history now. Miles and Pops don’t know where they will wind up, but they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
Miles thinks Pops and the rest of his friends can call him River all they want.
The End
Somebody screams. My eyes open wide. It is still pitch black. I can’t see a think. The air is thick and the smell is horrible. I have to fight to breathe. Suddenly there are flashlights and the sound of running feet pounding on the concrete. People are running to hide from the thugs.
It was 110 degrees. The flashlights disappear, and everything goes black again. My back is numb. All I have now is a black garbage bag with everything I value.
Dad told me when we went into the Superdome – “Don’t matter what you see or who needs what- they’re not family. Its us three and nobody else.”
People are pounding each other for their stuff. The generators buzz and hum but they don’t work. I hear a baby shriek. I do not know if the baby is being born or dying.
Page 3
Sunday August 28- 7:15 am
Before the storm- Last night Pop told me to collect all the things that I could not live without. A monster hurricane was coming- Hurricane Katrina.
Dad told me to call my mother- just in case we lost power. We were going to a motel with Uncle Roy to his old Chevy.
I had been with Pop for two months. I moved in with him right after school. I had spent summers with Pop before, but this was going to be different. Mom got remarried to a mailman who had three kids.
Mom would get mad when I complained. She told me that I was still her baby boy, but she had four kids to take care of now.
Page 4- Dad was a musician. He loved to play the trumpet. He felt that when he was playing the trumpet, he was close to God.
Mom told me that life at Pops was not going to be all fun and games. She told me that the most important thing in his life was that trumpet. It was more important than Mile’s mother and Miles himself.
Pop used to drink a lot. He used to stay out all night playing at the clubs.
Pop told Miles that he didn’t care about Nintendo, basketball or rap. This made Miles mad. Miles played football not basketball.
Pop moved into a small apartment over one of the clubs. He got Miles a part time job. On the living room walls were pictures of musicians.
Pops told Miles this was not a house to study in. Pops hardly ever noticed Miles. He was so invested in his own self and his own music.
The first week that Miles moved out to live with Pops was great. Pops spent a lot of time with Miles. He had a full time father. But when Pops got more gigs, Pops stopped handing around Miles.
Pops real name is Terrance Shaw, but everyone calls him Doc.
Miles slept on a couch in the corner of the living room. There was a curtain that he could pull in front of the couch for privacy.
Miles hoped to make the varsity football team at his new school. On my birthday I was hoping for some football gear, but got a watch instead. Pops asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him cleats and a new football. Pops gave him a drum instead.
Miles was mad at Pops. Pops had asked and didn’t listen. It was the same old story. One day Pops went into the kitchen and started talking to Miles. He said, You were born in New Orleans and named after Miles Davis- the best trumpet player ever. You have got to have some skill in those hands to beat a drum.”
Miles worried about missing football practice the day he stepped into the old Chevy. Miles really wanted to make the team, even if he had to spend some time on the sidelines.
They were on the highway, and it was bumper to bumper. No one moved an inch.
Uncle Roy could not believe how many people were trying to leave New Orleans.
Pop and Uncle Roy had seen many hurricanes, and were never scratched by one of them. They said that this hurricane was different from all of the others. We lived in an apartment that was 15 feet above the sidewalk. I could not imagine that water could get that high. The landlord boarded up all the windows and left too.
New Orleans was built below sea level. The whole city could get swallowed up in water if the levees broke. Even the mayor told the people of New Orleans to leave.
Pop packed his trumpet. He also took his gig book with him as well. Miles put $64.00 in his pocket- money that he saved from cleaning tables , a football, his practice playbook and his football jersey. Pop told Miles to bring the drum too, so Miles did. Miles did not want to argue with his father.
Uncle Roy was not married. He did not have any kids. He moved into the homes of other people until they got tired of him. He took his trumpet, his suits and a big sack of candy.
We sat in traffic for three hours and moved less than a ½ mile. The storm was a day away, but Miles could smell the rain coming.
Page 14-The needle of the car’s engine was getting higher and higher. Suddenly there was smoke from under the hood. The engine died. We had to push it to the side of the road.
When the radio had been working, it said that the Superdome was the only safe place to be if you stayed in New Orleans. They got out of the car and started walking. They carried a duffle bag with their horns and some clothes. They had to leave some stuff behind. There were people everywhere. Most of the people were walking. With the exception of the kids, most of the adults looked nervous.
When they entered the Superdome, Pops warned Miles to be respectful, but not to turn his back on anyone.
Chapter 2- page 17
Sunday 28- 11:00 am
National guard soldiers in camouflage stood at the door with machine guns pointed straight into the air. A large note said that every adult and child should bring enough food and water to last three days. All laws would be strictly enforced.
They had no food other than the candy.
They were told that no one can leave until they are given permission to leave. Pops tells Miles to stay away from the soldiers.
People were praying, children were playing and babies were crying their heads off. Most of the people there were black. There were a few white people. Most of them were doctors, nurses or soldiers.
When Miles saw the football field, he felt less nervous. It was a beautiful sight. Families were all over the stadium. Some people brought VCR’s , piles of clothes, and one person brought their statue. Pops picked out a spot near an exit side. People were told to stay off the field because if the Superdome were to leak, people might drown.
Miles went down to the field to throw his football around. He promised that he would stop when told to by a soldier. Miles saw that the stands were already half filled. Other kids decided to play football with Miles. He was having fun.
Miles saw two boys from the varsity team. They started talking to Miles. They asked Miles if he and his family had enough food, and he told them that they didn’t bring any.
The guards were handing out spaghetti lunch, but the line was line 8oo people long. Miles two friends told him to follow them, so he did.
Cain, one of the boys asked an old man how he was doing. Cain put his hand on the old man’s shoulder acting like he was family. The boys cut in line, even though there were people in line that got mad. Most people wanted to do something about them cutting, but decided not to put up a fuss.
I took the box back to Pops and Uncle Roy. I was not proud of what I did
A man started screaming. He wanted to leave, but the soldiers wouldn’t let him leave. Pops recognized him. He told Miles to pretend not to know him.
There was a preacher and his family that sat near Miles and his family. The preacher had a wife and three young children. Pops told him not to get involved with other people’s problems.
Pops told Miles that when he was younger they went from one shelter to another. He told them when things get difficult; sometimes people snap or go crazy. This hurricane is going to make people snap out of fear.
Pops told Miles that him and Roy used to stay late after school so that no one knew where they lived. They would hold onto the trumpets that the teacher told them they could borrow like they were treasures.
He told Miles that half the people in the shelter wanted to hurt them because they were not very good playing the horn yet, as they were just learning.
Pops continued. One day a woman started screaming. Their momma went to help the lady. Then a person pulled a knife and stabbed momma by mistake. She didn’t die from the stabbing, but she lost a lot of blood. Momma died when she was 56.
Miles told them it was a sad story.
Pops told him that it wasn’t a sad story. It was the sad truth.
Chapter 3- page 30
Sunday August 28- 4:10
The soldiers were not monitoring the bathroom lines. So anyone with muscle could push their way to the front of the line. We waited for an hour to use the bathroom. Pops stayed with our stuff so that no one would steal it.
Mile had cramps. He really needed to use the bathroom. He felt that the lunch that he got from cutting in line was making him sick.
Some man was in the bathroom, trying to sell pills. Uncle Roy waited by the door while Miles went the bathroom. Somebody already stole all the toilet paper. We bought two pills. They were supposed to help us not poop for a few days. People saw that Miles had money in his hand, so many people were thinking about jumping Miles to steal his money.
Some kid stole Mile’s football, so when he went back to his seat he took the drum out the black garbage bag. Miles spun the drum in his hand. His father got mad. He told Miles that the drum was an instrument, not a toy.
Mom had wanted us to go back to Chicago. We were a long distance from there. I had no way of telling Mom where I really was. Mom had told me that we should bring food and water with us. Only we did not bring food or water with us.
Miles started getting hungry. He started to beat on the drum to get his mind off of food.
Pops liked the beat that Miles was playing. Pop put the drum in his lap and started to drum. All the noise in the Superdome seemed to disappear. Miles liked it.
Around 7:00 the preacher said that he was going to hold a mass. Lots of people moved closer. The preacher said that Hurricane Katrina was not a punishment- it was a test of character and a chance to show that family and brotherhood is important.
At the end of the service, the preacher asked Miles to beat out a song. People began to sing. When it was finished Pop and Uncle Roy were clapping for me. Pops said, “The first time we ever played was in a shelter, and now you are giving people hope right here in the Superdome.”
Miles was different after that song.
Late that night, Miles was sound asleep when his stomach woke him up. Pop saw that Miles was awake, and asked him if he minded watching the stuff while he took a nap. While Miles was watching the stuff, he looked around the Superdome. The preacher’s daughters had a pet guinea pig with them. They must have snuck it in because animals were not allowed.
It was raining very hard, and more and more people were coming into the Superdome. The people were soaking wet.
Cain and Dunham were looking for Miles and they found him. They were the two boys that helped Miles cut in line and get food for his Pops and uncle.
Miles left his father and his uncle and walked up to the two boys. There were two other boys with them. Miles did not recognize them. Dunham told his that they could have used him. They were having trouble with some other dudes, and had to leave, because they were outnumbered.
The kids were looking for stuff to steal. They wanted to know what the people around him had to steal.
One of the guys saw the candy machine near our seats. Cain watched for soldiers while one of the other kids took out this knife and broke into the candy machine. They robbed all of the coins from the machine and then broke into the machine and stole the candy.
They told Miles to have the preacher collect money so that the thugs would leave them alone. Miles told them that he couldn’t do that because his family was down there.
One of the guys told Miles that he was a chicken. He told Miles that he was either for or against them. All of the other guys were wearing red. That was the gang’s color.
Pop and Uncle rushed up to Miles. They wanted to know what the problem was. The preacher ran up the stairs too. Miles took out some of the money out of his pocket and gave it to Cain. He told Cain, that was for the jersey he lost.
Cain took the money and ran. He told Miles that he would never play football with him.
Chapter 4 page 42
Monday August 29, 6:30 AM
Katrina hit real hard. The Superdome was shaking. The rain and wind was louder than all the people in the Superdome. Miles imagined that God was playing his own type of drum on the Superdome, saying “Here’s my hurricane song.”
The lights were dead, and everything was pitch black. People got nervous and started praying.
The old man that was yelling yesterday started to lose his mind. He started saying that they were on a slave ship and that they were all going to die.
Just then, the lights went back on. The old man was still saying that he was going to die on the slave ship, and that he was never going to see the sun again.
The Superdome took a direct hit. A section of the roof ripped off. You could hear the rivets pop and metal tear. The hole was at least 10 feet across. The sky was as black as tar.
The rain started falling inside the Superdome. Some people caught the water in bags and began to drink it.
People were pushing and shoving. A fight broke out over rain water.
Pops and Miles waited in a long line for bottled water. They were told that they would only have two bottles per day per person.
People started yelling at the soldiers. They told him that he had more water in his canteen then they would have all day.
We took the pills and they worked. We didn’t have to use the bathroom as much. The bathroom line was much shorter than last night. The smell in the bathroom was horrible. People were holding their breath. There was no running water. That meant that the toilets no longer flushed. We couldn’t go into the bathroom. It was too gross.
The stink was everywhere. People were peeing in the hallway. We relieved ourselves. A lady took her son’s diaper and let the poop fall to the fall.
Pop’s said that they all were like animals. They were fighting to survive.
When we got back to our seats, a man was sitting there with Uncle Roy.
Fess had joined the group. He was a clarinet player. The man was soaking wet.
Fess told them that he was in his house when Hurricane Katrina hit. The water entered his house. He needed to make a hole in his roof to escape. The Coast Guard had to get him out.
Fess told them that parts of the city were gone. He told them that some of the clubs are still standing.
Fess, Uncle Roy and Pop drank a lot of whiskey that night.
Pops got real emotional. He hugged his gig book. Miles just stood and stared. These were his worse days of his life. His father was hugging his book- and not him. It made Miles sad and miserable.
Chapter 5- page 51
Monday August 29 12:16 pm
A single shot rang out. A voice screamed. The whole Superdome got stone quiet. Pop looked at me, and I looked at him. The space between Miles was small, but to Miles it was like the Grand Canyon.
It didn’t matter that it was noon, the sky behind the big hole in the dome was still pitch black.
Hurricane Katrina kept the wind and rain coming. It was so hot in the Superdome and the smell was getting worse.
Pops, Fess and Uncle Roy talk about the good old days. Pop raised his flask. “Here’s to my son. Everything’s football to him- the rest is all invisible.” Pops was mocking Miles. Miles knew that his father was drunk, but his words hurt Miles.
Uncle Roy told Miles that a lot of people in the Superdome were going to die. Fess told Miles that the Saints flower on their helmet was a symbol. They said it was from the bible when Adam and Eve were kicked out of paradise.
Pops told Miles that they were being kicked out of their paradise by Hurricane Katrina.
Fess took his clarinet to his lips and started to play.
The old crazy man was still talking about being on a slave ship and accusing them all of trying to harm him.
Suddenly a group of soldiers came up to Pops and Miles. They were wearing white masks on their face. The told them that they were looking for weapons.
One of the soldiers told Pops that he smelled like a drunk.
The old man came over to Pops and stole the flask of liquor. His daughter ran after him, but could not catch him.
The soldier looked at the bag of candy. They accused him of stealing the candy from the machine.
The soldiers told Uncle Roy and Pops to open their cases. Fess asked the soldiers if they thought that had machine guns in the cases like Al Capone.
Pops picked up his trumpet and yelled at the soldiers that he wasn’t a drunk. Pops played the trumpet. Miles did not want him to stop.
The lady could not find her father. He was missing. More and more people came into the Superdome. They looked worse than other people that came earlier in the day.
There was one lady that was so large that she couldn’t fit into a chair, so she lay on the floor.
One man was coughing up blood, but there were not enough doctors to help him.
There was a lady in a wheelchair that never opened her eyes again.
President Obama was on vacation. The mayor of New Orleans was mad at how bad things were in the Superdome.
Pop was now sober. He was making funny faces for the preacher’s daughters. The girls were laughing. The funny face was one of the memories I had as a kid, which used to make me laugh.
The old man jumped from above. It was a sickening sound. The old man’s body lay still on the concrete.
Chapter6- page 62
Monday August 29- 5:45
No one ran to help the old man. We all knew that he was dead. There was no way that he could have survived the fall.
The body needed to be identified, so the preacher and Pop went to look at the body. Pop was breaking his own rule.
I followed them to the old man’s body. Pop told me that it was ok not to look at the body. There was no shame.
Someone had put a white sheet over the body. We walked into a freezer. It wasn’t cold, but it was about 40 degrees colder. The smell wasn’t that bad here.
There were about 50 boxes of food here, and hundreds of empty ones. They put the old man’s body down.
One of the soldiers called us evacuees, and told them to bring us back to our seats.
The preacher asked if there was any more food than the fifty boxes, no one answered him.
Only one of the soldiers is polite. They thank Pops and the preacher. The soldier says he’s from Texas and that his family lives in Louisiana and Mississippi. He says that they hope that they are treated respectfully.
Uncle Roy says that it will be a long time before they can bury the old man. There is no dry soil. Pops says that maybe they need to march for him, and give him a proper burial.
Miles had only seen one jazz burial before, he was about to see his second.
The old man’s daughter tells them that she wants a jazz march for her father. He used to love his job washing dishes because of the music he got to hear while he worked.
She took out a piece of used cardboard and wrote CYRUS CAMPBELL December 24, 1934-August 29, 2005.
Pop reached into the duffel bag and grabbed his trumpet. Pops told Miles to get his drum.
Pops told Miles to give him a beat, and Miles did.
People in the stands were watching. They were crying real tears. Some people even marched behind us. More and more people got up out of their seats and marched. It was a time to celebrate. Pops played the trumpet real well. The people behind Miles started to dance. A woman opened her umbrella and pretended that the wind was blowing her around.
Pops looked at Miles as though he had never been more proud. Miles felt closer to him. Miles had always hated music because it was the most important thing to his father. Miles felt tricked. He and his father were one when they were playing music. Miles did not want to stop.
Chapter 7- Monday August 29- 9:48 pm
The later it got, the more people were packed into the Superdome. The lights kept fading lower and lower. The storm sounded a little less threatening. I hadn’t eaten any real food since Sunday morning.
It was close to ten o’clock when a fire broke out two sections over. I smelled smoke before I saw the flames.
“Fire! Miles, everybody up!” Pop’s yelled.
Pop’s grabbed his horn inn one hand, and Miles in the other hand.
People started to push each other. They were afraid of dying from the fire. Miles was pushed into a wall. Pop’s had a very tight grasp on Miles. They were finally able to push their way through the doorway.
Two men beat the flames down with their shirts.
When the fire was out, Pops let go of Mile’s arm.
One woman yelled, “Rat!” and tried to stomp on the guinea pig. The guinea pig ran for its life.
People started whispering that the thugs started the fire, so that they could steal stuff.
Finally the fire alarm went off, except there was no longer a fire just the sickening smell of toilet and smoke.
It was midnight on Tuesday that the lights completely died. People used their cell phones and lighters for light. Pops was hoping that the soldiers would let everyone leave on Tuesday. He was concerned about the levees though.
The water was already taller than a man. Uncle Roy laughed to think about his car and his clothes in the trunk.
Miles told Pops and Uncle Roy that he was going to high-school championship football someday on this very field.
Pops looked at Miles. “I know you will, son. There’s no doubt.”
Hearing his father say nice things touched Mile’s heart.
Screams echoed through the stands. A flashlight beam came swinging down the corridor. It was Cain.
They grabbed a skinny guy by his shirt. The man told them to take whatever they wanted. They were going to burn the shirt that the man was wearing.
Pops and Uncle Roy were going to break their rules again. Apparently all those people around us were now family.
Cain was getting closer to Miles’ family. They charged at the preacher. Pop, Roy and Miles jumped up to stop Cain and his gang. Cain turns the light on Miles and tells him to get a collection of money together for them otherwise there would be trouble.
They threatened to break the trumpets and clarinets if they didn’t.
The preacher was lying on the ground and was covered with blood. He told everyone that he was going to be ok.
Before Cain and his crew left, Dunham lit some paper on fire and threw it on top of someone’s stuff.
“don’t forget we are here” they yelled as they walked away.
Pop, Roy and Fess stomped the fire out. People wanted to pay them to leave them alone. People were trying to give Miles their money for protection. Fess picked up his clarinet and blew. He blew it hard.
“No one threatens our instruments,” Roy yelled. “Not in my lifetime.”
Miles clinched his fists and started beating the drum.
Chapter 8-page 81
Tuesday August 30-2:30 am
The screams keep coming. There are more crimes in the less populated areas. The thugs are robbing everyone. The gangs are hurting woman and children. The men are scared.
The heat makes breathing hard. There is enough light that you can see twenty feet in front of you.
The people near Pops collected 92 dollars. They did not want any trouble with this gang.
Pop called Miles a man, and told him that he knew these thugs and that he could make his own decisions.
The soldiers started patrolling in larger groups. People pleaded with them to stop the thugs. The daughter of the dead man told them that they needed their protection.
The soldiers left without saying anything.
Later two cops walked by. One of them started crying like a baby. The preacher decided that it was time to give into the thugs.
Miles walked over to a girl that he knew was on the cheerleading team. Both the girl and her mother started screaming when Miles spoke to them. That thought that Miles was going to attack them.
It was around four in the morning when Miles saw two birds near the hole in the Superdome.
There was yelling from down the hall and footsteps flying our way. Fess stopped playing the clarinet. A different gang of thugs appeared, but they weren’t interested in Pops. They were running from something.
A few minutes later Cain and his gang appeared. They were one person short. Dunham was missing and Cain had blood and cuts on his hands.
The preacher gave Cain the bag of money. Cain spit in the preacher’s face. The preacher looked mad. Miles walked past Pops and Fess.
Pops yelled at Miles to come back. Miles walked over to him with a roll of money. Miles handed the money to him.
When Cain reached for the money Miles head-butted Cain, who crashed to the floor.
When Cain got off the floor he screamed at his crew to back up.
Miles wrestled Cain to the ground and Cain’s shirt was ripped off. Everyone was thirsty for blood.
Cain’s crew split. People pulled us apart. A woman screamed that one of us had hurt her. Cain pointed at Miles but the lady recognized his voice and pointed at him.
The group of people grabbed Cain by the legs and arms and carried him off. They beat him bloody, kicking him hard, and barely able to live.
Tuesday August 20 6:52 pm
Hurricane Katrina finally ran out of steam. The storm was over.Light poured into the Superdome.
The soldiers were letting people out of the Superdome. Pops grabbed our stuff. Soldiers were yelling at us to get into line. The Superdome was shaking with footsteps. The exits were blocked. The soldiers told us that we couldn’t leave the area, but we were going outside. Dark filthy water was everywhere. It was over the roofs of cars and just below the bottom branches of trees.
People were waving for help.Uncle Roy said, “It’s a damn nightmare come true.”
The sun was blazing and there was no shade. By eleven o’clock people were passing out. The bottom of Mile’s sneakers was burning from the heat.
The soldier explained to people that the water was poisoned with sewer water. People could not drink it or they would die.
Two women started fighting over baby formula.
A soldier took his canteen and took a long drink from it. A woman snatched it away from him, and told him that they weren’t in a prison camp.
When the woman was done drinking, she passed the canteen to other people until the water was all gone.
Pop opened his gig book to pass the time. Fess and Uncle Roy talked about the good old days with Pop to pass the time.
Pop wrote into his gig book that we played the Superdome- a funeral march. Pops said, that might be the last gig we write in the book for a long time, but it’s the first that we have Miles sign it.
Miles wrote- Miles Chic Shaw-drum into the book.
Miles was beginning to feel and believe that his father loved him.
Chapter 10-page 101
Tuesday August 30, 2:30 pm
The hot it got, the harder it was for people to hold onto their tempers. A white man was beaten by the crowd, and the police had to stop them. The fight started because he was asking people for a cigarette.
Pops told Miles that this was like a like a super-sized shelter. A lot of helicopters arrived. Some were bringing more people, others were bringing supplies.
Camera crews were there to film the horrors of the Superdome. When the camera focused on Miles he turned into the camera so that his mother would know that he was ok. One man jumped in front of the camera and told everyone watching that we needed help desperately. Soon everyone was chanting that we needed help.
People pooped and peed everywhere. There were no toilets. There was the smell of death also. People were dead all around the city of New Orleans. Around four, it looked like there might be food.
They gave people food and water, but only a small amount.
Pops stood behind Miles in line. He said, “I know I have not been the best father, but I want you to know that I love you. Sometimes a man chooses a road and can’t turn around. I want you to know that if we get separated that I am not cutting out on you.”
Pops was going to jump over the wall. Pops said that he had to see what happened to the clubs.
Miles told him that this was nothing new, that Pops had been ditching him for years for music.
Pop waved Uncle Roy over to take his place in line. Pop walked over to Fess, and got his horn out of the duffel bag.
Miles walked out of line too. He walked over to the sergeant to distract him.
Pop jumped over the barrier, and was a free man.
Soldiers started blowing their whistles and were screaming at Pops to stop.
Hancock reached for his gun, but the nice soldier bumped into him making him fall to the ground.
That’s when Miles hopped the fence. Miles caught up to Pops, but couldn’t call out his name.
Finally, Miles yelled, “Wait, Pop!”
Tuesday Auguest 30 4:36 pm
Pop walked side by side with Miles.
Pops could not believe what he was seeing. There is no way that they water of over my waist.
Garbage, logs, branches and human waste floated by. The water was cold. A photo album floated by.
A dead body floated by. As they walked the water was less deep. Helicopters buzzed overhead. People were hanging out of their windows.
Pop did not want to go back to the Superdome, so we hid. Two men on an air mattress floated by. They were trying to get to the Superdome for medical attention.
A few blocks later a man in a boat waved to Pops and Miles and tried to get them into the boat. They told him that they were all set.
They passed a man who was cooking. He had a machete on his waist. He told Pops and Miles that they had better have more than a horn if they are going to get further down the road.
Houses were torn apart from the wind and from the water. Cars were upside down. People were robbing stores and taking all that they could. People were knocking each other senseless trying to grab stuff from the stores. The police just watched. There were not enough police to make a difference.
A group of four guys approached Miles and Pops. They told us to relax. They gave us food. They told Pops and Miles that they were making sure that no one went hungry. They were acting like Robin Hood.
This gang even had baby formula and juice boxes for kids.
We were heading home. The gang told us to hurry.
Chapter 12- page 119
Tuesday August 30, 6:18 pm
We kept moving. Some owners spray painted “LOOTERS WIL BE SHOT ON SIGHT.”
Everywhere people were looting, but they left those stores alone. One of the clubs that Pops played in was still standing. Pops was happier, but knew that it wasn’t all going to be good news.
Looters were everywhere. Shots started raining down. It was a guy on a roof top. They were getting shot at.
When the man ran out of bullets, Pops and Miles got back on their feet. As they got closer to home, several of the clubs had collapsed. A clock in back of one of them had frozen at a few minutes after seven. One club was missing. Pops stated crying.
One of the clubs that wasn’t damaged was being looted. A man had a small piano on his back! Pop yelled at him to put the piano back. Pops was not going to back down. The man put down the piano and walked over to Pops. Miles punched him under his chin and knocked the man to the ground. Then Miles chased him half way down the street.
Then a guy grabbed Miles by the neck. Then Pops was on him, trying his best to get Miles loose. Miles was losing and losing bad. That when he heard the thud.
The guys grip loosened. He was holding his head. Pops said, “Don’t you ever put your hands on my son!”
Pops looked at his trumpet. He had used it to hit the guy in the head with it, in order to save his son.
Pops said, “I couldn’t lose you Miles. Not for anything.”
Miles now knew that Pops loved him more than his music.
Pops and Miles moved the piano back. Together we worked hard. There was no space between them any longer. Pop’s leg was hurt.
Miles reached down and picked up his Pops. He was never more proud of his father.
Our apartment was in ruins. We pushed our way through the building. He used his lighter to see. Our furniture was ruined.
We went into a part of the room that was still standing. Pops took his trumpet and started playing. Miles picked up the broken table top and started to drum on it.
Together we raised the roof, and Miles didn’t stop drumming until his hands were raw.
The spirit of New Orleans was alive.
EPILOGUE- page 130
Miles and Pops slept on the floor in their broken apartment. Soldiers brought Miles and Pops back to the Superdome. This time there was plenty of food and water for people. The bathrooms were clean. Families with babies and little kids had a special section. Everyone had their own cot to sleep on. Best of all there weren’t any more gang members preying on people.
Mom wanted me to fly out to Chicago. Miles tells her that he can’t walk out on Pops. Miles was to start high school in Houston. Pop, Uncle Roy and Fess got an offer to live in Seattle, Washington to play the jazz clubs up there. The four of them moved to Seattle. Pops got himself a new trumpet.
Miles moved too late into the football season, so he didn’t get a chance to play football. Over the weeks he made some friends.
Everything wasn’t perfect between Miles and Pops. Pops was mad that Miles got a B- in music class. Fess had saved Miles drum, and whenever Miles played it, Pops would become happy.
Fess and Uncle Roy tagged Miles with the nickname River for what happened to the man and the piano.
It took seven months for the schools in New Orleans to reopen. Pops and Miles moved but home, but Uncle Roy met a woman in Washington.
The club under their apartment was getting fixed, but there wasn’t going to be an apartment. Pops and Miles moved into a government trailer. Anyone in the trailers was starting out from scratch. People were trying to buy land cheap, so they could rebuild and make a lot of money. Cain and Dunham never returned to school.
Finally in September, the Superdome reopened. The Saints took on the Atlanta Falcons in a Monday night football game. Miles coach got them free tickets. Pops and Fess got a job playing their trumpets.
It cost over $185 million to fix the Superdome. The Saints won 23-3.
Being back in the Superdome was hard. Miles remembered the smell of the toilets, the hunger in his stomach, the fear of the people, the death march. It is part of history now. Miles and Pops don’t know where they will wind up, but they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
Miles thinks Pops and the rest of his friends can call him River all they want.
The End